BIRD TALK

Dear Bird Talk,

…And now, on a more serious note, the Feature Story on “Infections” in the recent CSANews was interesting – particularly the piece about shingles and the piece on page 38 about vaccinations for shingles. I wish I’d known about that a year ago!

Warning to all seniors – if you haven’t already had shingles, for heaven’s sake, get the vaccination!

I got shingles in March in Arizona about a month before we came home, and the pain pills I’d been prescribed prevented me from driving (drowsiness, etc.), so we had to pay a friend from Ontario to fly down and drive us home.

Five months later, I’ve still got shingles and let me tell you, it’s very painful and debilitating. My chest and back feel like raw meat, and my softest shirt feels like coarse sandpaper.

So get the vaccination – NOW!

Sincerely,
Keith McLean
London, ON

Response:
Hi Keith, as to vaccinations, your advice is just another voice confirming how important vaccinations can be. At the time of this printing we’re still trying to determine the availability of the shingles vaccine (Zostavax®) in Canada, so to our other readers, be sure to bug your doctor about when it will be available here. And PLEASE, get the flu shot every year, and make your doctor give you the pneumonia vaccine, too (it’s good for at least 10 years). To give you some idea of the value of the flu shot, the Ontario government did not get the flu vaccination out in a timely manner last year and they refused to pay for it once snowbirds had left for their winter holiday. As a result, many snowbirds missed the vaccination for the first time in years and Medipac’s out-of-Canada medical insurance costs jumped by over $3,000,000. Coincidence? I don’t think so!